In a small building in White Bear Lake, a community on the outskirts of the Twin Cities, on what had previously been a ReMax from the ‘90s, sits an incredible music school packed into 63,000 square feet. 

The McNeely Music School is a compact facility bursting with spaces for music making. The first and second floors contain a double-height foyer and multitude of teaching and practice rooms. The foyer has the appearance of lounge but doubles as a performance and recording venue. Its wavy ceiling and wood slatted walls create acoustic diffusion to offset any harsh reflections from the tall glass wall that offers passersby a peek inside the music box. This diffusive ornament evolves as it flows into the rest of the building.

Hidden underneath the foyer lies a kitted-out recording suite that consists of a shared lounge that connects four rooms – one large mixing room, an irregularly shaped live room for recording a band, and two amp isolation/drum kit rooms. Keeping those rooms separated acoustically from each other and the rest of the building was preeminent for the success of the building where every space also acts as a recording, performance or teaching venue, including the foyer. Every room in the building is connected with audio and network lines and can serve as a recording or monitoring room for itself or another space. Portable recording carts carry equipment between spaces that do not have their own permanent hardware. 

Constrained by the small building footprint, Threshold worked with closely the client and architect to home in on exactly the desired end goal, letting acoustics and function guide design towards a result that is beautiful visually and aurally.